[ Reviewed by: Vigil ] - [ Date: Tuesday,
6th March, 2001 ]
Continuing the Mel Soaring series, The
Savage Sanguine is Kona's second Quake SP
level, the first being The Alkado Adventure,
which I haven't played. According to Kona
himself, this level is a huge improvement
over his previous effort. Of course, Kona
has released 2 Q2SP levels and 2 HLSP levels
since The Alkado Adventure and the experience
shows. This level was released back in 1999,
a new one, by Q1SP standards.
Starting in a small outdoor area, you are
immediately given some weapons and ammo.
From there you'll progress to a waste plant,
textured in a combination of orange, red,
gray and black. Kona sticks to the theme
extremely well, though the area for the
final combat is a refreshing change. Although
the textures have been used in some Q1DM
levels, they are used for the first time
in a Q1SP level. The use of orange and red
seemed sometimes a bit excessive but, other
than that, texturing was good. The architecture
has solid structures throughout the level.
Nitpicking, the staircases could've been
done better at times. Good looks, thanks
to the fresh textures as well as good architecture.
The layout is somewhat linear, though you'll
be given route choices a few times. Backtracking
can become a problem at times, as the layout
can be fairly confusing. There are 2 different
levels, though not a lot of vertical fighting.
Lighting wasn't anything special - for the
most part it's bland although some shadows
give a contrast to most of the bigger rooms.
There are 3 secrets; I accidentally uncovered
2 of them and I'm still trying to figure
out how to access the third.
Having playing this back when it was originally
released, I seem to remember that there
were more enemies than now. There's 90 in
Hard and only 10 less in Normal, bringing
the monster count down to 80. The monsters
are mostly medieval, though a few Enforcers
are mixed in. These could've been left out,
as they don't really fit in. Strangely though,
one new enemy seemed to fit in better than
the Enforcers, despite its base feeling.
Kona has used the Snakeman to spice things
up. This dreaded thing shoots nails at you
at an alarming rate and needs about the
same amount of punishment as an Ogre. The
monster selection goes from Knights, Hellknights,
Ogres and Fiends for most of the level to
a nice ending with even more Fiends and
Snakemen with a few Shamblers. Monsters
usually attack in small groups, though some
solitary Ogres and Snakemen are thrown in.
The rooms are very spacious, making dodging
most attacks easy. Corridors, on the other
hand, are pretty tight and can be problematic.
There's loads of ammo, with less grenades
but more shells and nails. The difficulty
wasn't startling and I made it through most
of the areas without even getting a sweat
on. Snakemen were fairly tricky though,
care is needed to handle them.
The level is not without its flaws though.
Due to its layout, it can run a little slow
on older machines and software Quake has
greyflash. Even GLQuake has some HOM at
one point. Also, more clip brushes would've
been nice, especially when fighting in those
narrow corridors. There were a few construction
errors as well, a weird door, having trouble
with a nearby wall, and a point where a
patch of orange was in the floor. The doors
themselves damage you, this might come as
a nasty surprise. Also, the final secret
has a Grenade Launcher, even though you've
acquired one before.
Nevertheless, the level is worth downloading,
it provides you with 20 minutes of fun,
gunning down monster after monster with
the SNG. It may not be as excellent as Kona's
later levels, but it's definitely good.
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